Ian was working at the office in the afternoon and checked his calendar to find the last 3 hours of the day lined out with no explanation.  He figured someone had sent him an appointment without listing where he was to be or what the meeting was, and thought he’d just wait for the call to ask him why he wasn’t there to find out where he should be.

His secretary called him and told him that there were two men to see him. Figuring it was just two salesmen he told her to send them in.

When they arrived in his office, they told him they were from a company named Image Builders and that his wife had sent them to pick him up to take him for a make-over.

Ian explained that he had an appointment scheduled, and the men chuckled and told him it was a mystery set up by his wife.

Ian pushed back his longish hair, picked up his jacket and said “Let’s go!”

The men walked him to the parking garage to their plain black car that looked like a police car.  They drove him to an area of town he had been through before, but didn’t know much about. They parked and walked him through a door with the name “Image Builders” on the door.

Once inside, Ian was taken to a reception area and asked to take a chair.  An older very well-dressed lady sat down and introduced herself to him. She asked Ian if he knew why he was here, and he said the men mentioned it was for some sort of make-over. She grinned and told Ian that this had been arranged by his wife, as she thought it would enhance his chance at getting the promotion the company was going to be making.

The lady handed Ian a lacy envelope and told him it was from his wife.  He opened it, and the note read. “Please cooperate and enjoy, I’ll be over to pick you up after work!”

So the lady asked if Ian was ready to begin. He said he was.  The left and a younger lady came in and handed Ian a long robe and some slippers and directed him to a bathroom to change, telling him to remove ALL of his clothing and put on the robe and slippers.

A few minutes later Ian emerged.  Both ladies asked him to remove the robe so they could inspect his body and see what had to be done. They made a few notes, and allowed him to dress.

Ian was led to a room with an examination-type table. He was told to lay down on his back on the table, and the top apart of the robe was opened to reveal his chest. The lady began smearing some warm goo on his chest and covered it with a cloth sheet. She told him to take a deep breath and just as he started to exhale she ripped the sheet off. It hurt like someone had torn the skin off. He looked down to see a large strip of his hairy chest was now totally bare. She apologized, telling him the first one is always the worst.

Several more strips later his chest was almost completely bare. The lady had a few stray hairs that she had to pluck out with tweezers.

The lady rubbed some cool lotion on his now bare and sensitive chest. He then heard the lady moving some metal equipment around and realized she had put stirrups on the table.

Before he knew what was happening, two other ladies had hoisted his feet up in the stirrups and tightened some straps on the feet. The lady opened the robe completely and looked at his groin area before picking up a set of small clippers and starting to clip his pubic hairs. She brushed off the clipped hair and powdered the area. He thought this horror was all done just before feeling that warm goo being placed in his most tender area. The strips were placed, and then ripped off. The feeling was devastating!   A few more of these strips she pronounced him almost done. His feet were released, and he was asked to roll over on his tummy. His butt was treated similarly. When done, both of the areas were also covered in the cooling lotion. This treatment had taken him to almost a state of shock. He couldn’t imagine what else this den of horrors had planned for him.

From here, he was taken to a small dimly-lit room where he was instructed to remove his robe and lay on a padded table. He received a most relaxing massage. This helped relax him so much that he was covered and allowed a short nap before being awakened  to move on to another part of his treatment.

Ian was helped off the table and taken to a room in with a couple of waiting chairs and a large barber chair. He was guided to the chair, and a pretty blonde female barber introduced herself to him. She told him he would be getting a haircut, manicure, pedicure and shave while he was there, and added and some work on the eyebrows.  She offered him a glass of wine, and he accepted. Ian was told the haircut had been chosen by his wife, before a long cape was placed over him

His long moustache was completely removed, using a small quiet clipper. Ian was told he was going to be reclined, and the barber chair laid him almost flat.When that happened, a small table was wheeled up and the manicure began.  Just as he was getting used to someone holding his hand and cleaning and trimming his nails, hot lather was placed on his face, and covered with a hot steaming towel. He squirmed a little bit, and the barber mentioned similar towels were used daily during her bikini shave. After 3 applications of lather and towels, a fourth was added as the barber stropped her razor. She told Ian “Hold real still, “as she shaved every bit of his face.  The lather was reapplied and the shave was repeated. After the shaving was done, another hot towel was applied, followed by a cold towel.

Just about the time Ian thought the relaxation had ended, he felt some sweet-smelling lilac crème being applied to his face. His face was then massaged and kneaded by the skillful hands of the barber. It felt and smelled so good he thought he was in heaven. When the crème was removed, a thick heavy clay masque was applied and allowed to harden-up.  While the clay was hardening, he felt the work move from his hands to his feet. His hands and feet received nail care along with a very relaxing hand and foot massage.

The barber whispered “Up you go,” as she moved the barber chair back to the sitting position. “Now let’s get started on the hair.”

She began combing his hair and holding it up to tell how long it was.  She turned Ian away from the mirror, and picked up a comb and shears and began to comb up his hair and snip it off. She was careful not to let the hair fall forward so he couldn’t tell how much hair she was cutting off. She roughly outlined the ears and nape of the neck. She put down the shears and picked up a pair of clippers “just to clean it up a bit.”

The clippers came to life and began clipping the back and then the sides of Ian’s head considerable shorter and with a more defined and tapered look. The small clippers were used to create a nice outline over the ears, down the neckline and across the back.

The clippers were put away, and the barber started combing up and cutting off long lengths of hair on the top of the head.  This went on for quite some time.

The cape was unsnapped, and Ian thought the cut was over, but the barber told him she was not quite finished. She tucked a towel in the back of his collar.  Ian heard the lather machine running again and felt hot lather being placed around the top of his ears, down the neckline and across the back. The barber tipped his head and carefully shaved clean the outline she had just made and the nape of the neck. As he raised his face back up off the cape, he realized his wife had arrived and was sitting in one of the waiting chairs with a big smile on her face.

The barber wiped the bits of later away, and then clipped the cape back in position. She used clippers to perfect the taper on the back and sides of his head, then put some nice smelling wax on the top of his head to make the hair stand straight up. She also used a comb and the small clippers to trim his caterpillar eyebrows into perspective.&amp
;nbsp; The hair was brushed off him and the cape was removed.

As he started to get out of the barber chair, he was met by his wife. She reached through the robe and felt his now hairless crotch, as she gave him a big kiss. The wife presented him with a new business suit, and told him to go put it on, which he did.

As they were leaving the place he reached in his pocket for a cigarette. Wife said “Give me those!” and when he did, she handed him a small leather case of fine cigars to replace them. She told him “This is your new look, you must admit, you look more professional and promotable now.” An appointment was made for his return for a “clean-up” in 3 weeks as he left.

Ian did get the promotion, and because of his appearance was assigned to teaching other young executives about the importance of their appearance.